I love children’s books that depict children playing outside. We need such books to serve as constant reminders to get our own children – whether as parents, teachers, or mentors – into nature and exploring their world. And when the artwork is unique and beautiful, even better! This new book that shows children playing in nature through the four seasons is illustrated with needle-felted wool scenes.

Publisher’s description The pure and simple delight of children playing outside is captured in needle-felted wool paintings created by Claudia Marie Lenart in Seasons of Joy: Everyday is for Outdoor Play. The picture book pairs dreamy images of multi-cultural children, animals, flowers and trees with verse that expresses the joy young children experience in nature’s seasons. Children can see themselves in the diverse characters and can be inspired to spend more time playing outdoors and connecting to nature.

Lenart has created charming scenes of kids actively engaged in their environment, beginning with Spring as they run up and down a hill and into summer for a swim in a lake. Fall brings leaf pile jumping and winter brings snow sledding. Simple text describing what the kids are doing and feeling accompanies each scene. The textured aspect of the felted wool art lends a depth to the images that brings out the action. Seasons of Joy will make any adult long for days of their childhood and hopefully instill in newer generations of kids a desire to spend much time engaged in outdoor play.